Editor’s note: People can be such litterbugs. It’s crazy how volunteers have to set aside time to band together and go pick up after folks who think it’s okay to just dump large appliances etc. wherever they please. Every year many areas of the backcountry around Vanderhoof, including logging roads and gravel pits are in need of a heavy-hearted, heavy weight spring cleaning.
On Wednesday, May 17, 23 freezers and fridges, two hot tubs, one abandoned snowmobile, one burned out car frame, pickup loads of discarded tires, a barbeque, and much much more were loaded up and hauled to the transfer station.
The project was coordinated by Natural Resource Officer Rob Grouchy and Vanderhoof Fish and Game Club President Cam Hill. Other members of the Fish and Game Club as well as Grouchy’s co-workers, Forest Protection staff with the Ministry of Forest, Lands and Natural Resource Operations where assisted by students from Nechako Valley Secondary School who all helped to make the event a success.
This is the third time in recent years that such a combined effort has taken place. Hill said the idea of holding a bush cleanup day first occurred to him in 2010 when he worked for the Conservation Officer Service. Hill said that he is continually amazed and disturbed that people find it acceptable to dump their unwanted junk out in the bush. The worst places seem to be gravel pits such as Striegler and Mape’s Pit where along with the myriad of household trash there is often burned out car hulks and other large items. Freezer, hot water heaters, TV’s, microwaves, couches, oil cans are all items that litter logging roads throughout the area. Some of these items eventually get hauled back to town or the landfill by concerned resource users but mostly they just continue to pile up. When some mindless individual dumps trash in a certain area it seems to be the que needed for others to follow suit. Hill hopes that by keeping on top of the garbage the end result will be less littering.
Hill hopes that this event becomes an annual one and that other concerned individual and organizations will join in in the future to help out. Anyone interesting in participating in next year’s event can contact the Vanderhoof Fish and Game Club or any area Natural Resource Officer. The NRO’s will be keeping track of random dump sites so backcountry users are encouraged to document and forward locations. The best options to do so would either be by stopping at the Forest Service office or make a report through the NRO/COS RAPP line (Report a Poacher Polluter). Hill advises that littering, particularly when business or hazardous waste are involved, is a serious offence. Anyone who observes this and any environmental offence is asked to contact the RAPP number at 1-877-952-7277.